Bleeding After Microchip Insertion

[macoduck]

Our new senior, Allen, was microchipped today. A few minutes after insertion and scanning we saw that he was bleeding, steadily dripping on to the floor. Vet pinched off the insertion site and held pressure. By the time we left all was well. Until we got home.

 

A hematoma raised up over the chip site, eventually getting as big as my hand, then slowly shifting toward his side as it pooled with gravity.

 

I've iced it. Called vet to get permission to give him one of Percy's Amicar tablets and Gabepentin.

 

He is restless and uncomfortable. I hope the Gabapentin will kick in soon.

 

 

Has anyone else had a blood vessel nicked during a chip insertion?

[jenners]

No, yikes, I wonder if he has a blood disorder? Poor baby

 

Jennie

[macoduck]

Jennie, a bleeding disorder was run right before I adopted him 2 weeks ago. Came back normal.

 

Hematoma has now drifted south, giving him a uniboob. Poor old guy doesn't know what's going on.

[Guest goofydog2]

Poor boy! Sending feel better thoughts to Allen.

[macoduck]

He still won't lay down for very long. the uni-boob is now more of a uni-fin along the bottom of his ribs. Size wise though I don't think it's increased despite change in shape.

[Remolacha]

poor boy I hope it gets better soon.

[greysmom]

It's not unheard of for complications to happen after microchipping. He probably doesn't have a lot of fat on him so the chance of hitting a vessel rather than just under the skin is high. Hopefully you've heard from your vet by now and Allen is more comfortable. He might need to be drained, but it should just reabsorb.

[macoduck]

He's finally resting. Vet just called to check on him. If it continues to reabsorb we won't need to have it drained.

[XTRAWLD]

Owie. Gentle scritches. You seem to get all the oddities don't you! On the flip side - what great experience!

[4My2Greys]

Poor guy. I hope it clears up without further problem.

[cleptogrey]

as to the hematoma, one of my salukis had huge one after a dog tried to nail him. it was the size of a goose egg+ near his shoulder. it took a good week to drop with gravity and be resorbed. you have the first dog i've heard of who had such a hard time w/ their microchip installation. i know breeders who have all of their litters chipped, no problems. hopefully things will settle down quickly and have patience w/ the hematoma.

[macoduck]

This is our first dog out of 20 that had this happen.

Within an hour of my last post the hematoma kept growing. Expanding from a uni-boob to running the whole length of his rib cage, like a flappy sail or fin.

 

Vet had me go to their bigger clinic. They consulted with a VCA specialty hospital near Raleigh.

No draining to be done but to expect there may be a bit more.

Continue with the Amicar for 5 days.

 

Fortunately his foster mom had full labs done on him, including a bleeding test, 3 weeks ago. Having those results on hand, plus his entire history and labs from his previous owner was a big help.

We'll get today's labs back tomorrow, and that included another bleeding test.

 

So now we'll have his normal/baseline from 3 weeks ago and his under stress results. This is important since his hyperthermia episode x2 during and after a dental in 2014, it was not determined whether it happened because of anesthesia or stress/panic attack.

 

VCA vet also said we need to see if this excessive bleeding has affected his platelet count. He has always had greyhound-normal platelet levels.

 

Allen has eaten and is finally settling down.

 

This has been a very expensive microchip.

[Houndtime]

I hope he will be ok.

[macoduck]

I hope he will be ok.

Me too. He was eager to eat dinner and is calmer now.

 

I've consulted Dr Couto, sending him Allen's lab work from just a few weeks ago, and will send today's in as soon as I get it.

[lukasmom]

Wow, that is kind of scary. Never heard of it before. Hope he is on the mend soon.

[MaryJane]

It's not clear from the thread - have you brought him into the ER vet ? If not, a trip is probably in order as he might still be bleeding.

 

Good luck

 

edited to add .. might I suggest that you check to see if the microchip may have been placed badly and is causing bleeding ... I personally don't know if this is possible.

Edited April 19, 2017 by MaryJane

[macoduck]

MaryJane, initially he was seen at a small clinic. Then I took him to the larger hospital that owns that clinic, both in our town. They phone-consulted with the VCA specialty clinic 3 hours away near Raleigh.

They think attempting to drain it would be too stressful.

 

There is no bleeding at the insertion site, no bruising or swelling either. It is a bit tender. The blood all headed south.

 

We'll give the Amicar for 5 days.

 

I was charged the emergency rate since we came in during their lunch break.

 

Going to the after hours e-vet would be even more horrendous for him. Plus it's just a one-man operation with limited testing.

 

He doesn't appear stressed now but is uncomfortable. We'll be on alert for hyperthermia if he ramps up his stress.

[macoduck]

Allen is better this morning!!!!!

 

Swelling has gone down a good bit. Less bruising. We'll continue the Amicar.

 

Dr Couto said he has seen this a few times before. In one case the greyhound swelled up and looked like a pit bull, even it's head. Amicar fixed that one too.

 

My vet refunded/credited half the emergency fee. It was very nice of her to do that. She was at the satellite clinic when she chipped him. She owns the main clinic that charged $225 to come in as an emergency during their lunch period.

[Remolacha]

Glad he is better this morning!

[XTRAWLD]

My goodness. Good to hear it's getting better. Do we know the root cause?

[greysmom]

Good news for Allen today!!! I hope he continues to improve!

[sarabz]

So glad he's getting better!!

[macoduck]

This is what I've posted on FB:

 

Yesterday Allen, our new senior, was microchipped. Just before we left the clinic he started bleeding, splattering all over himself and the floor. Pressure was applied and the bleeding stopped.

An hour later at home, a large hematoma started forming at the chip insertion site.
I contacted my vet, iced it and continued to monitor him.

After 2 hours the hematoma drifted to the lowest part of his chest and he began to bruise. Vet advised me to begin Amicar, which I had on hand.

Because the hematoma got larger and darker, I brought Allen in to my vet's larger facility. They consulted with the VCA specialty clinic in Cary NC. I am to continue the Amicar. A CBC and clotting test was sent out.

Fortunately, just 3 weeks earlier, Allen's foster mom had a senior panel done and included a clotting test. He was normal then and yesterday's test also came back normal.

In 2014 Allen had hyperthermia while getting a dental, spiking to 109.1. Hours later in spiked again. It could not be determined whether anesthesia or extreme stress caused the hyperthermia episodes, but the vets are leaning toward extreme stress.

Prior to those episodes anesthesia for dentals was uneventful. Now however, it is too risky.

After an uncomfortable night, Allen woke up feeling better. The hematoma was smaller.

I had consulted with Dr Couto who agreed with my vet's treatment. I'm glad he warned me to be prepared to see Allen's leg swell as one is now doing that.

After having adopting 20 dogs over the years, never has one bled with a microchip insertion.

This was a freak occurrence. Dr Couto said he has seen this happen in greyhounds just a few times. One was so swollen from a nicked blood vessel that it looked like a pit bull, including its head. That greyhound recovered with Amicar.

Will I continue to microchip my dogs? Yes. I hate what Allen had to go through but would still want him to identified is he got loose and had slipped his tag collar.

Edited April 19, 2017 by macoduck

[ramonaghan]

Wow, that is scary looking. So glad Allen is improving, and I hope he is back to 100% soon. Thanks for sharing this!

[Greylover97]

Rebel started to bleed after he was chipped. Nothing to the extent of Allen though. I'm not sure if something went wrong or if something was knicked in the process.

You might want to have Allen wanded to see if the chip is still there. When the vet wanded Rebel, he didn't have a chip. The only thing we can think of is that it came out when he was bleeding. I had to have him rechipped and this time, the vet used surgical glue to close the insertion hole.